How I Plan Our Weekly Meals

My life gets a little (well, a lot) hectic at times. I practice law full time. Being a mom is a 24/7 job! I’m the COO of the Dickey household. I try to organize and keep up with Sincerely, Ki as much as I can. My husband owns his own law firm, teaches a class at the law school, and represents our district on City Council. So, let’s add keeping up with his schedule as another one of my jobs.

Needless to say, trying to figure out what we’re going to eat for dinner each day is not something I want to stress about. Closets and pantries aren’t the only things that can get organized. So, I’ve devised the schedule below, and it’s been working for us thus far. As with anything, I’m sure I’ll need to tweak it here and there.

Sunday- Sun Ming Sunday. Sun Ming is one of our favorite Chinese food restaurants. It’s a little out of the way, but my husband thinks it’s totally worth the drive. He calls in our order and picks it up. If for whatever reason, we don’t want Chinese food, we’ll either throw something on the grill or grab something easy like Chipotle or subs. I try to keep Sundays pretty easy.

Monday- Crock pot Monday. I like to ease into the workweek with a crock pot meal. I prep everything on Sunday and throw it in the crock pot before leaving the house on Monday morning. If your crock pot dish isn’t already a full meal, you can easily roast vegetables or throw together a salad when you get home from work.

Tuesday- Taco Tuesday. Per my husband’s request, every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday. And I’m perfectly OK with that! You can have a lot of fun with taco night. Change up your fillers—ground beef, ground turkey, fish, shrimp, chicken, all veggies—you name it. And go to town with toppings—lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, Pico de Gallo, sour cream, Greek yogurt, avocados—the list goes on and on. We usually stick to tacos only, but feel free to add a side of black beans or rice.

Wednesday- Primal Night. If you live in our area, you’ve probably heard of Primal Gourmet. Primal Gourmet is a meal prep/cook your own food service. New weekly menus give you the chance to try new entrees designed from seasonal ingredients. Not only do they take allergies into consideration, but they also offer modified meals for vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, Keto dieters, etc. The nutritional facts and macros are printed on each of their meals and are available through MyFitnessPal. (Source: Primal Gourmet website). They post new weekly menus every Wednesday, and you simply go online and place your order by Sunday for pick up the following Tuesday at a location near you. I usually order 2 customized meal packs for me and hubby and a Little People meal pack for Alexis. The Little People meals tailor the week’s menu to little ones. They “stay away from the scary stuff - No seaweed salad or anything like that.” And it’s always 100% Gluten Free and Processed Sugar Free. Alexis is a notoriously picky eater (even for a toddler), but I’m determined to keep putting new and interesting foods on her plate. One day she’ll come around. All meals have a refrigerated shelf life of 7 days. And most importantly, their food is so good! You can also visit their West Columbia location to eat breakfast, order food at the bar, or shop the market. Can’t you tell I love this place?!

Thursday- On Thursday, I simply cook whatever meal I’ve planned for the week. It could be spaghetti, soup, chicken, etc. I try to keep it relatively easy though.

Friday- Pizza Friday. We’re big fans of pizza. I started noticing that pizza was slowly becoming our Friday night dinner of choice, so I made things easier for myself and designated Friday as pizza night. You don’t always have to order your pizza. Enjoy a fun family night of making your own. If you’re into making your own dough, go for it. But there are lots of pre-made options out there including whole wheat and cauliflower crust for the health-conscious folks. And I could spend forever listing toppings.

Saturday- I leave Saturday open. Joseph is a great cook, and he usually likes to cook on the weekends. So he may be in charge of dinner on Saturday or Sunday (if we don’t want Chinese food). If I’ve found a recipe I want to try, I’ll do so on a Saturday since I’ll have more time. Or we may try a new restaurant or eat with friends.

So, there you have it! I hope my weekly meal schedule has provided you with some inspiration.